David Morgan
Ellicott City, Maryland - Monica Lewinsky testified on Thursday that she never gave Linda Tripp permission to tape-record their telephone conversations about the former White House intern's relationship with President Bill Clinton.
In testimony at a pretrial hearing to determine whether Tripp can be tried for alleged violations of Maryland's wire-tap law, Lewinsky also said she remembered the date of a conversation that Tripp is charged with recording based on her own recollection - a crucial point in the prosecutors' case for bringing Tripp to trial.
"I had not consented," Lewinsky told Deputy State Attorney General Carmen Shepard under direct testimony in Howard County Circuit Court when asked if she had given Tripp permission to tape-record their telephone conversations.
Lewinsky, whose affair with Clinton led to his impeachment, was subpoenaed by Maryland officials to help them prove that their case against Tripp has not been tainted by findings unearthed in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's White House probe.
Tripp, who ignited the scandal by turning over more than 20 hours of audio tapes of her conversations with Lewinsky to Starr investigators, was indicted last July on two felony counts under the Maryland wire-tap law, which makes it a crime to record conversations unless all parties consent.
She is charged specifically with taping a conversation with Lewinsky on December 22, 1997, and sharing its contents with Newsweek magazine. She could face up to five years in prison and have to pay $10 000 (R60 000) in fines on each count, if convicted.
Before the former White House secretary can be brought to trial, however, state prosecutors must prove to Howard County Circuit Judge Diane Leasure that their case against Tripp was not derived either directly or indirectly from the Starr investigation.
Lewinsky testified that she could remember the date of the conversation because it had taken place the day before her going-away party at the Pentagon, where she and Tripp worked, which was on December 23, 1997.
"This is the real turning point where she (Tripp) said she was definitely going to disclose my relationship (with Clinton)," Lewinsky said. "This also was a pretty significant time, so a lot of the things in this conversation were memorable to me."
Lewinsky, who was on the witness stand for about an hour, appeared composed and at times cheerful.
But under cross-examination by Tripp attorney Joe Murtha, she showed signs of strain and asked to be excused for 10 minutes. A recess was called before Lewinsky finished her testimony.
Lewinsky left the Howard County Courthouse soon after completing her testimony, and went directly to a waiting car.
It was the first time Lewinsky has given live testimony at a court proceeding about the sex scandal that nearly ended the Clinton presidency and the central role played by Tripp, a former friend and Pentagon co-worker who betrayed her by secretly tape-recording their conversations about Lewinsky's affair with the president.
Lewinsky's testimony at the pretrial hearing will be crucial to whether the prosecution can use the tape in their case against Tripp at trial.
If Tripp's attorneys can persuade the judge that Lewinsky's memory of when the tape was made was influenced by the Starr investigation, then prosecutors may not be able to use the recording as evidence at trial.
As many as 20 witnesses were expected to give testimony over the course of the hearing, which the judge is determined to conclude before the weekend. Court officials predict that Leasure will then take weeks to decide whether the case against Tripp can proceed to trial.
Wednesday's testimony focused on four of Tripp's friends from the suburban Maryland community of Columbia who say she told neighbours about her secret tape-recordings long before she approached Starr's office to offer the tapes as evidence. - Reuters